Free Smashed by Mandy Hager Page B

over to the sofa. He sits me down next to Mum, taking up a position on the other side of me. This forces Sergeant DeVinnie to move over to the old green chair, the one that Mum keeps promising to fix because its springs are stuffed.
    ‘Mr Young,’ Sergeant DeVinnie starts. He flicks his notebook open yet again, and I’m beginning to get the feeling it’s his favourite move. ‘Last night, a friend of your son’s — Donald Donaldson — was violently assaulted down by the waterfront. An anonymous caller phoned for assistance at —’ he checks the notebook, ‘— twenty-two thirty-two … ten thirty-two p.m.’ He looks up straight into Dad’s eyes. ‘They found Donaldson near the rowing club with severe head injuries.’
    Dad shoots a horrified sideways glance at me, and I can see the doubt that’s hiding there. ‘Is he going to be okay?’
    ‘Not sure.’ DeVinnie’s watching all three of us for our reactions, and I can tell by the way he slightly straightens up in his seat that the fact Dad has reached over and taken Mum’s hand will go down in his little notebook for future use. ‘Of course it’s still early in our enquiries, and we’re interviewing anyone who may have had some contact with Donaldson. His father —’ Notebook again. ‘— Sidney Donaldson — seems to think you might be an obvious place to start.’
    ‘Does he just.’ Dad’s slowly nodding his head, like he’s weighing things up. ‘Look, sergeant, my wife can verify the fact that we were both home last night. All night.’ He fires another barbed shot at me. ‘Sidney’s absolutely rightthat I told the boy I’d hospitalise him if he made contact with either of my children ever again but, Lord knows, I didn’t assault him.’
    Dad told Don that? Wow! It seems so out of character it’s kind of cool. But now I get that flash again of Don’s pulped face. This is something that I’ve seen , in real life. And if I’ve seen it, then it means …
    ‘Sidney is hardly someone you should rely on for a sober response.’ Mum can’t stand it when people think badly of Dad: she fights back like a bull terrier defending its pups.
    ‘You said before that Donaldson assaulted your daughter?’ Sergeant DeVinnie glances over at Constable Gordon, who has quietly started taking notes.
    ‘Raped,’ Mum snaps. She starts to cry now, tears pouring down her cheeks while she struggles to fight back a sob. ‘I can’t take all this — it’s too much.’ She releases Dad’s hand and sinks her face into her hands.
    The policemen reposition themselves nervously. ‘How about you tell me what happened, from the start,’ Sergeant DeVinnie suggests.
    Dad’s trying to comfort Mum from the far side of me, so I pat Mum’s back and shift off the couch so he can reach her more easily. He puts his arm around her and I turn away, not wanting to witness Mum’s marathon effortto pull herself together.
    As the two of them start to tell the cops what happened to Rita, I edge my way out of the room. I just can’t bear to listen to it again — can feel myself getting all worked up. Once I manage to escape the house, out into the fresh air, I start shaking so hard-out I have to sit down on the rubbish bin before I fall. The whole world has turned crazy. Upside down. One minute I’m worrying about passing a few exams, and the next I may’ve turned into some kind of drunken psychopath. If only I could remember …

    Sergeant DeVinnie pops his head out of the door and nods at me. ‘Just a few quick questions, son.’
    I jump up from my perch and stand in front of him, feeling naked. He studies me as if he can read what’s going on inside my head, so I focus on genetic sequences, just in case he actually can. A, A, A, G, T, C, T, G, A, C …
    ‘What were you up to last night?’ he asks. He doesn’t sound accusing, just curious.
    ‘Not much,’ I reply. I think about Mum and Dad, and how they’ve always insisted we tell the truth; that lyingis a real